Yesterday we had Happy Hour on the back patio with a friend. We usually do that for ourselves about once a week. We get out our little pineapple bowls and fill them with snacks, dips, and other food items. We enjoy mixed drinks. We mellow out a bit. This week we really needed to mellow. You see, it’s “walk-through” season at work and we both were visited by some higher-ups in our respective buildings. Talk about stress! We spent a week and a half of non-stop hard labor perfecting the store all for a 2 hour little visit. Lots of long days and missed days off… Oi vey.

Anyhoo, so it was nice to just chill out and spend some chisme time with a friend. Heh.

Today is my closing shift, so I slept in a bit. I did some stuff around the house. Now I am procrastinating. Nothing new there.

tagged: work stress happy hour

daniel · mid-morning · say it · ping it

I have been under more than a bit of stress lately. I am trying to deal with it, but it still is making me feel “off”.

You see, there are two new leaders at the workplace. In fact they are the 2 positions above me. So right there you can probably the issue. I feel like I am constantly on egg shells at work. I feel like I am constantly being questioned. I feel like I am under a microscope.

I am sure most of it is in my head.

I also feel annoyed and resentful of the change. Yet at the same time optimistic and excited.

I think I need a vacation

To top it off we have a major corporate visitation coming up. *cries*

tagged: work stress change

daniel · late morning · say it · ping it

I treated myself to a movie over the weekend. Twilight.

I know, I know… Whatevs. I read the entire series. I admit I *loved* the books. LOVED even. In all caps. Just like that. I expected to hate the movie. I figured it would be nothing like the book. I thought the characters would be all wrong. You know what? I loved it. Sure it was not nearly as amazing as the book. There were moments where I was like, ” This scene will never work”. Sometimes I was right (like the sparkly skin bit, but I thought that was dumb in the book too… I come from the Anne Rice people). Sometimes it was so dead on I got goosebumps. The 2 leads were the best cast, in my opinion. Edward especially. Robert Pattinson is soooo dreamy! Anyhoo, I loved the thing overall and could have sat and watched it again. It was late tho, so I had to go to bed.

Other than that it was a fun yet low-key weekend. A drink here, a brunch there, some good quality time with friends. Not the whole group, but still… Nice. Yanno?

work is crazy. The two top positions in the building were replaced. One had retired, one was promoted. The new leaders reported today. The rest of management (mostly me) was on edge all day. I hate change unless I create it, and even then it is a process. So I kinda feel all chaotic in my mental workspace right now. Plus the new “second in command” chews gum. I HATE *HATE* gum chewing. all the ‘smack, smack, smack, smack, *pop*, smack…’ makes me absolutely insane. I may have issue with that. Of course I will mention it, but Day One didn’t seem like the time.

So how are you?

tagged: work weekend twilight robert pattinson gum edward cullen

daniel · late afternoon · 1 comment · ping it

I may have not mentioned this, because I never mention work anymore, but since I am such a zombie I figured I should offer up an excuse. We are preparing for our annual inventory. I am working a lot of 6 AM shifts, that require my waking up at 4 AM.

Ouch, right? I am sorry but 4 AM is like totally still the middle of the night. And I am unanimous in that.

So how are you doing?

tagged: work tired early shifts

daniel · late afternoon · 1 comment · ping it

1. el gato diablo
1. the cat devil
2. nitnelav
do not mess with el gato diablo

And so there we were, in the middle of our “training” session. You see, I had been reading this book that I picked up… “Cat Training in 10 Minutes”. We have had limited success, but enough that I had a bit of hope. I want a well trained cat. One that you just trust. Right? But tonight training was not going well. In fact she was a total rebel in all regards. Richard had told me that she gets like this, but I have never seen it. Little Versace is my baby! She can do no wrong!

But tonight she was terrible. Awful. I was losing my patience! I was… Well *she* was on my last gay nerve and I was gonna explode! She was even unresponsive to her “training”, where usually it goes pretty smooth. She is very smart after all. Anyhoo, so there we were, a soggy chip on the floor and a very naughty kitten. I cleaned up. I scooped up Versace and we went to another room where I could shut the door and eliminate distractions. She still wouldn’t behave. I decided to try a trick Richard taught me. I picked her up and flipped her on her back. I tried to calm her. She fought. I held her in place as best I could and continued. I told her she doesn’t always get her way. did she understand me? No, of course, but in my body language I think yes. After the clawing and fighting she settled at last. I eventually put her down. After a few minutes of pouting (she always pouts!) we had the best training ever and are again BFF’s.

*phew*

In non-cat news I also purposefully pissed off a grocery store clerk today. I know, I am awful. Going straight to hell. Sure. I get it. But the woman was retarded! Look. I was next. All that there was in front of me were these two dudes with like 3 things. Golden. So I waited. Dude #1’s card was declined. He then slowly counted out all the cash in his pockets. Not enough. So then his buddy emptied *his* pockets. After counting, and the recounting (BTW this was the “Express Lane”) they were still 84 cents short. So dude #2 says he’ll go to the car and get the rest. WTF? So Dude one tells the clerk to go ahead and “void” the transaction and let us pay. “Oh no”, she says. “Then I’ll have to get a manager to do the void, and just to re-ring you when you get back. No way. Y’all go ahead.”

Again. WTF? Is this woman for real? So she holds up the (only) express line so dumb and dumber can go dig in their car for nickels. So I say something rude as she “apologizes” even tho we all know she has instigated the whole thing to avoid doing a *void*. “This is why I never shop at Von’s” I say. An honest remark. We have complained all the way to regional level with no results. The SoCal Safeway Co. clearly is way different than NoCal. Anyhoo. She snaps back at me. Rudely, of course, but I was not nice and expected a challenge. I was pissed. “But y’all keep on coming back!” She then told me to gather up my things and wait on check-stand #1 because she had called for back-up. I didn’t move, which was good because as expected no one came up. Even after she herself screeched into the overhead. After like an eternity dumb and dumber had found enough pennies in the car to pay and I was finally rung up. Miss Thing at the register and I bickered some more. Dude. I hate that store. It’s always the same. I am a manager in a customer service field and I cannot, will not tolerate stupidity, poor training, AND rudeness all in one transaction! But I feel bad for being so awful. But she was clearly an idiot! But I have guilt.

Gah!

tagged: work cat service versace wtf kitten siamese bad von's

daniel · early evening · 2 comments · ping it

Damn. It’s only Wednesday. I am so eager to put Black Friday behind me this year. It feels like some huge speed-bump or hurdle that I need to cross this year! And I have been so exhausted the past few days from all the stress and labor of preparing for it at work. I have either gone to bed early or fell asleep on the couch while watching TV all week! Last night I fell asleep while playing Flamingo with my cat (it’s a game we play every night in an effort to tire her out so she’ll actually sleep). I woke up in the middle of the night and my light was still on, Flamingo was still in my hand, and my cat was sleeping!

Anyhoo, I gots to go get pretty for work. Just wanted to check in, since I feel totally productive this morning.

tagged: work cat tired sleep holidays black friday

daniel · lunch time · say it · ping it

Okay, so like nobody said anything, so we must still be good on the NaBloPoMo thing… *looks around* Yup, coast is clear. We are a-okay! But I still hate DST. And not just because of my server time zone. For many, many reasons.

Anyhoo, I figured we should do one more post for good measure. *posts* No I kid. I am going to totally write something!

I am. Srsly. Dude.

So as I was saying. This time of year sucks at work. This year a bit more than usual. Trust. You don’t want a retail career when the economy tanks. But I find that with each bit of holiday decor that goes up at work I feel a bit more bitter, a bit more jaded. It used to be my favorite time of year, but now I just wish I could skip the next 60 or so days. And I realize that this is such an amazing time in our country, what with the elections and all. I should be writing passionately about the election or my feelings on the Prop 8 debacle. But to be honest, I am stuck in a state of self pity. Just like every holiday season. *sigh*

So there you have it. It’s “where I am at” as it were. I am trying to work thru it. Thank gawd for my new baby!

tagged: work versace politics depression hoiday election

daniel · late at night · 1 comment · ping it

I haven’t blogged in like 3 days.

Dude. There was a time where that’d been unheard of. What the hell?

Well, lately there has been a bit going on. I just recently discovered that I have used up all my weekends off till 2009. It’s a matter of a few weeks until the 6-day work weeks begin. Oy. Kill me now, right?

On another topic, we are recovered enough from Chanel’s passing to begin considering another cat. That decision has been put upon me, which makes sense since our 2 cats were Richard’s and were “in the picture” as it were, before me. Heh. So I have decided that I want, no, I need a Siamese. However I do not want a rescue cat or mixed Siamese domestic. I want the real deal. A modern Siamese purebred. A cat that is intelligent, social, and might just learn to talk. A cat descended from royalty. Not show-quality tho. I am not rich, as much as I wish to be every day. So a traditional Siamese is not out of the question.

Is it wrong? Am I selfish? Why not a shelter cat adoption? Well, because I am not a 12 year old looking for my first pet. I am a grown man and will have this cat, if all goes well, for 20 years. I’ll be over 50 when it passes. Hell, it could outlive me! I’d better be happy with it. To be perfectly frank, I am taking a risk getting a pet at all. It could just bond with Richard and hate me. Why get a cat that is less than what I want and resent it all the more because it hates me? If I found a purebred rescue Siamese I’d grab it, but those just don’t exist so far. Well at least not ones born with eyelids. I can afford a cat, but not repeated surgeries from the start.

I have always been fascinated with Siamese cats. I would love having one around, and if it loves me back? All the better. Either way it’ll give me joy just being Siamese. So I have started looking, rather unsuccessfully, for my new cat. You’d think you could just go online and look for a new cat and buy one later that day. Not so much. There is waiting. There are no kittens. They really cost just too much in today’s economy. Like $350! Imagine! But I am a man on a mission. The cost is justified by the end. My dream pet. So I search. And whine, and moan. I can picture the little guy I want it so bad. How I afford it if I do have to go with the 350 model, I do not know.

In the meantime, I do feel bad about the cats needing homes. I feel worse when folks point out the mixed siamese adopt-a-cat areas on sites. I get that there are needy cats. I have been down that road. However, this is something I have always wanted. This is my chance, since there is “room at the inn”.

tagged: richard work cats pets selfish kittens siamese cats

daniel · early evening · 1 comment · ping it

So I forgot to blog anything yesterday. Dude. I suck. The thing is, I keep thinking I’ll do it when I get to work. The problem is that I just do not have the time. Not only have I been off for twelve days and am a bit underwater, but this time of year is generally crappy-busy like. Just a lot to do, even if business isn’t what we’d like it to be. Just no time to slack!

Anyhoo, so like bad me. I promise to be better.

tagged: work blogging forgot busy

daniel · lunch time · say it · ping it

So here we are again, on International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Do you love it? I do!!

So anyhoo, What has been new here? Well other than being “All Pirate, All Day”? Well, I’ll tell ya. Not much. Between working all those weekends in a row, Richard’s birthday, and getting ready for my parents (who arrive Saturday) I am a busy and tired boy! You never realize how much time you spend at work until you try to have a life outside of work. This November and December will be the toughest yet, for that very reason. I will want to spend lots of time with my peeps, but will be working more than ever! *sigh*

So what do we think of fall decor. I have a few changes that I make around the house every fall. It’s a tiny bit early, but I think it will be fun for my mom to see it all *fall-ish* around here. I don’t think they do fall in Florida. At least not well anyways… LOL. So what? Do I put it out for mom or what?? Who knows… Tell me with a comment?

tagged: work blogging parents visit international talk like a pirate day work-life balance

daniel · terribly early · say it · ping it